I AM A BENEFICIARY AND I WANT TO REMOVE THE TRUSTEE: PART I

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It sometimes happens that beneficiaries of trusts do not see eye-to-eye with the trust’s trustee(s). Disagreements may arise over the amount of distributions being made, the investments made by the trustee, or the specific property being distributed.

Unless you are the grantor of the revocable trust, as a beneficiary your right to remove a trustee is generally limited. The first thing to remember is that the grantor specifically chose the trustee for a reason – it was someone who they trusted to act in your best interest, even if it goes contrary to what you, as the beneficiary, want. The second thing to remember is that if you have to go to court to get the trustee removed (discussed below), it’s going to be expensive, time consuming, and perhaps unsuccessful.

A beneficiary’s right to remove and replace trustees is governed by both the trust document itself, and by California law. The trust itself will generally set forth when and how a beneficiary or beneficiaries can remove and/or replace a trustee. Sometimes a majority vote of beneficiaries is all it takes to remove a trustee, with or without cause. Oftentimes, the beneficiary or beneficiaries are limited to appointing a trustee who is not related or subordinate to any of the beneficiaries within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 672(c) (which generally means anyone related to you within one degree of kinship, and anyone that works for you cannot be a trustee).

Sometimes the trust states that a trustee may only be removed by a court, or the trust is silent on the issue, in which case the trustee of an irrevocable trust can only be removed by a court. To obtain a court order replacing a trustee in California, the beneficiary must file a petition in the probate court of the county where the trust is administered (meaning where the day-to-day activities of the trust are carried on by the trustee).

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